Investment summit: World CEOs abandon Saudi over Khashoggi
News & Trends •
a wider western boycott of the conference suggests rising political risks in saudi arabia that could hit foreign direct investment which already plunged to a 14-year low last year according to a un body1 saudi arabia is in crisis in the face of international outrage over the murder of journalist jamal khashoggi energy minister khalid al-falih said tuesday at an investment summit boycotted by a host of global ceos and policymakers1 but the summit nicknamed davos in the desert has been overshadowed by the outcry over the murder of khashoggi inside the kingdoms consulate in istanbul on october 2 with a string of leading international investors pulling out over the case1 crown prince mohammed bin salman the kings powerful son whose reform credentials have been heavily damaged by the scandal despite repeated denials he had any involvement in the killing was a no-show at the opening session1 as we know these are difficult days. we are going through a crisis falih said in his speech1 falih said the murder of khashoggi was regrettable adding that nobody in the kingdom can justify it1 the comments come as turkish president recep tayyip erdogan demanded to know who gave the order for khashoggis killing in his country and the location of the slain journalists corpse1 the riyadh conference opened amid tight security at riyadhs ritz-carlton hotel with russian direct investment fund chief kirill dmitriyev and pakistani prime minister imran khan headlining1 falih heaped praise on the ceo of french energy giant total patrick pouyanne for standing by saudi arabia in this difficult period1 we see what partnership means when you have difficult times pouyanne responded as he shared the stage with falih1 this is when you really strengthen a partnership1 but a long list of investors and international policymakers have declined to show up in riyadh in apparent protest against the khashoggi killing1 siemens chief executive joe kaeser corporate chiefs from jp morgan ford and uber and media powerhouses like bloomberg cnn and the financial times all scrapped plans to attend1 ministers from britain and france and the united states which have huge defence deals at stake with saudi arabia have stayed away1 the three-day future investment initiative fii was meant to project the historically insular petro-state as a lucrative business destination and set the stage for new ventures and multi-billion dollar contracts1 despite talk of reform fdi inflows into saudi have stayed low and the scandal will only increase investor uncertainty said research firm capital economics1 and in a fresh setback the forums website went down on monday after an apparent cyberattack. there was no immediate claim of responsibility1 it was back up with reduced content when the conference opened1 this years conference contrasts with last years inaugural fii a star-studded event at riyadhs ritz-carlton hotel where prince mohammed was lionised as a visionary by speakers1 but many western firms have too much at stake to abandon the arab worlds biggest economy and some have decided to send lower-level executives1 companies from china and russia have also shown little interest in withdrawing from the event an organiser said1 the high profile withdrawal of so many american ceos from the conference certainly presents opportunities for asian and russian companies to make a splash ellen wald author of the book saudi inc. told afp1 the crown prince widely known by his initials mbs faces what the risk consultancy eurasia group has called an acute public relations crisis over khashoggis murder1 after more than two weeks of vehement denials saudi arabia has now admitted khashoggi was killed in the consulate1 in the past weeks turkish media and officials speaking to international media have said audio recordings prove khashoggi was tortured before being decapitated although no concrete evidence of their existence has emerged1 saudi foreign minister adel al-jubeir said tuesday the killing of a critic must never happen again as he pledged a thorough and complete investigation1 khashoggis killing fits the pattern of a recent crackdown on dissent in the kingdom in which clerics business high-fliers and women activists have been detained1 further stoking investor anxiety the kingdom is embroiled in an expensive war in yemen and is leading an embargo against neighbouring qatar1